A cautionary tale for the European Patent Office (EPO). Patent claims have been weakened, litigation rates have collapsed, and only the lawyers profit from cases that go nowhere.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has just reported a decline in the number of patent applications (Patent Docs mentioned this before the weekend) and changing guidelines associated with 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 won't change a thing. They cannot change what courts are saying; neither can politicians, yet the patent trolls' lobby has just cited this Senatorial page, adding: "Details of a newly formed IP subcommittee on Senate Judiciary led by Sens Tillis and Coons who are leading the push on 101 reform..."

"Until or unless something really changes, we won't be commenting on US patent affairs (except very briefly)."Coons has been trying this for a long time while accomplishing nothing [1, 2, 3]. These desperate measures, combined with the latest figures from the USPTO, basically refute the lies told routinely (every day) by law firms. We recently mentioned the decrease in the number US patents granted last year.

Sites of patent maximalists have been parroting -- as usual -- the latest lies from the Chamber of Commerce. That index of theirs is truly laughable because nothing has really changed, yet they sent the US soaring to the top all of a sudden (lobbying purposes). This mouthpiece with its latest lies can mostly be ignored for reasons we explained before [1, 2]. "Chamber of Commerce" is not a government entity, yet the name is misleading (intentionally). Until or unless something really changes, we won't be commenting on US patent affairs (except very briefly). ⬆